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3 Sheets-Sheet L no MOd L J. KIRBY, Jr., W. E. CRUME, C. D. GRIMES 8v J.M. CLARK. 7

Q AUTOGRAP-HIG REGISTER.

Patented July 23,1895.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

' J. KIRBY, 'Jr.,W. E. ORUME. 0'. D. GRIMES &

J. M. CLARK. AUTOGRAPHIG' REGISTER.

7 7 .41atented July 23,1895.

(No Moel.) I Sheets-Shet' 3; i

J. KIRBY, J12, W. BORUMB, O. D. GRIMES &

- J. M. CLARK.

AUTOGRAPHIG REGISTER.

No. 543,342.. Patented July 23,;1895.-

w rren; STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN KIRBY, VILLIAM E. ORUME, CHARLES D. GRIMES, AND JOHN M. CLARK, OFDAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNORS, BY-MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE OAR'lER-CRUMECOMPANY.

AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER.

SEEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 543,342, dated July 23,1895.

Application filed August 17, 1891. Serial No. 402,873. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN KIRBY, Jr. WILLIAM E. CRUME, CHARLES D.Qantas, and JOHN M. CLARK, citizens of the United States, residing atDayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Autographic Registers, ofwhichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference tobeing had to the accompanying drawings,

forming part of this specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in machines for registeringautographic writings, more particularly for the .use of salesmen instores and the like, in which a number of strips of paper are employedunwound from one or more delivery-rolls and passing over awriting-tablet carrying manifolding material interposed between thesheets, so

that duplicate impressions may be made, one or more of said writtensheets containing the sales-memoranda being stored within the case,while the others are delivered without the case and the written portionsare cut or torn from their respective strips.

The first part of our improvements relate to a novel construction andarrangement of parts to be hereinafter more particularly pointed out andclaimed, whereby the total amounts of all sales may be convenientlyregistered on a separate strip of paper, one sum directly under and inimmediate proximity to the preceding one for convenience in adding, andsaid strip of totals thereupon be stored away 5 and concealed in thecase.

In autographic registers as ordinarily constructed the entire duplicatesheet or sheets alone have been usually filed away or stored in thecase; but with such construction and arrangement it is not practicablefor the total amounts of all sales during any given time to be footed upfrom the duplicate sheets, which have been tiled away withoutfirsttaking down on a separate sheet the various tog tais, so as to get themin shape for footingup,

registered by the machine in any given period, and to so arrange thestrips of paper and mechanism that at the sametime that duplicates aremade of each sales-memorandum the sum-total of each sale will alone betransferredto a separate strip of paper, which on thesucceedingoperation of the machine will only be moved far enough tobring the next transfer of a total sum on the separate ing one,and so onin succession,thus furnishing in the end a strip of paper with the totalamounts of each sale arranged in proper order one directly under theother, so that the amounts can be readily and easily footed up.

The second part of our improvements consists of an adjustable bearingfor one of the feed-rollers ot' the machine, whereby the same may be setto compensate for any irregularity in size of the rollers, andthelpressure may be arranged to carry the strips of paper straight,while the third part of the improvements consists in providing one orboth of-the feed-rollers with a series of points or teeth, which willpierce the paper strips being fed through the rollers and hold them inline. In machines of this class heretoforemuch difficulty has beenexperienced where two or more strips of paper are used in keeping theseveral strips of paper in line with each other. It is customary toemploy ruled paper for both the upper and under strips, and when themachine is started these ruled strips are placed exactly in line, sothat the writing on the upper strip will be transferred to the samelines on the lower strip and the various items of the sale will appearat the same places on all the strips. Irregularity in pressure of thefeed-rollers and the difference in friction on the strips it is foundsoon causes the strips to slip as they pass through the rollers, so thatthe'printed rulingssoon lose their position of alignment and thememoranda on the upper strip will not be transferred to the proper lineson the lower strip or strips and it thus becomes necessary 5 to resetthepaper frequently, often in the busiest time of the day, much to theannoyance and inconvenience of the user, especially as in the resettinggreat care has to be taken strip directly under and close to the preced-60 to start the strips perfectly straight or the loo pressure of thefeed-rollers will cause one or all of the paper strips to buckle andpull improperly. It is to overcome these defects that the second andthird parts of our improvements are directed, and these improvementsconsist, as above set forth, of devices to regulate the pressure of therollers and of means to hold at all times the paper strips in theiroriginal alignment.

A fourth part of our improvements consists of means to prevent the paperafter it has passed the feed-rollers from buckling up under thesevering-knife and thus chocking the machine and preventing itsoperation. In machines of this class it is customary to feed one or moreof the strips out on top of the case through a slot therein, which hasordinarily been uncovered, so that the operator in using the machine wasvery apt to and would naturally rest his hand on the machine just infront of the feed-rolle'rs-, and the paper as it issued from the slot,thus coming in contact with the person of the user, would be retarded inits movement and the paper at once begin to back up and crimp behind theknife, so that further operation of the feed-rollers would fail todeliver the strip from the machine, necessitating a removal of the topcover and a straightening of the paper before the machine would operate.Especially was this difficulty experienced when the paper strips werelight and thin, as is usually the case, and a very slight touch on thestrip was then all'that was necessary to render inoperative the entiremachine. Our improvement in this respect is intended to entirely obviatethis difficulty and consists of a shield or additional cover or toppiece to entirely cover the slot-opening through which the paper isdelivered and to extend some distance beyond the opening,'a'nd with thisimprovement we find that the paper, if it then comes in contact with anyarticle, will not be so retarded as to back up under the knife, andbesides the hand of the user will naturally rest on the shield and willnot cover the opening through which the paper issues.

Afifth part of our improvements consists of a novel tension device forthe dispensing-rolls of paper in the supply-compartment of the machine.

It is necessary in order that the machine shall operate properly thatthere should always be proper tension on the dispensingrolls, andvarious tension devices have hitherto been employed, consisting for themost part of weighted tension-rollers to rest on the rolls of paper, orthe rolls of paper have been journaled one above the otherin an inclinedslot, so that one roll would itself serve as a tension for the others.found, however, to Work satisfactorily,and as a novel tension device weuse a flat spring either loose or secured to the case with its endbearing against the end of the journal or of the roll of paper, so as atall times to keep proper tension on the rolls. When we em- These deviceswe have not ploy a loose spring we prefer to bend the same into a loopand fit same loosely over one journal-of the roll, so that one end ofthe spring will bear against the end surface of the roll and the otheragainst the case.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section of themachine. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section of the storingreel forthe strip of total sales. Fig. 3 is a Like letters indicate identicalparts in all the figures.

A is the bottom; B B, the ends; 0 O, the sides, and D the top of thecasing for the working parts of the register. The top D is provided withthe usual opening E, underneath which is secured the writing-tablet F,supplied with manifolding-pap'er and over which tablet the duplicatestrips of paper are passed with the carbon-paper between them in theusual way.

G G G are the dispensing-rolls from which the paper strips are supplied,each of which is journaled independently of the others in the bearings aa a. (Shown in the dotted lines of Fig. 1.) The paper from these rollsis passed under and over the guide-rods Z) b b and c c 0-, over thewriting-tablet and the two upper strips between the feed-rollers H andI,

whence these two strips are delivered between the slotted knife-bars 61ct and out through the slot 6 in the top of the case, the lower knifebarbeing preferably extended and curved upward, as shown in Fig. 1, to moreeffectually guide the paper strips without the slot. These paper strips,which are delivered on top of ITO the case, are severed from theirrespective rolls by the knife K rigidly secured to the knife-carrierframe L, which is reciprocated vertically by the operation of thehand-lever M secured to the shaft N journaled in the sides of the caseinthe rear of the knife-frame. The knife-frame and knife are raised by thearm 0 secured to the shaft N, the end of which arm engages the toothfonthe knifecarrier frame, so that a depression of the hand-lever M raisesthe knife-frame and drives the knife K within the slots of theknife-bars d d and thus sevcrs the sheets from the rolls. A strongspring 9, bearing against the base of the frame L,'returns the knife andframe to their original positions after thesheets are severed and thehand-lever M is released.

The third and lowest strip of paper from the topmost roll, as shown inFig. 1, is intended to receive the totals of the amounts of sales.

This strip a is not passed with the other terposed between the strip a,and the upper strips, so that the memoranda of sales made on the upperpart of the topmost sheets on the tablet will not be'transferred to thisstrip a, but only the total amount of the sale.

The strips from the dipensing-rolls are preferably ruled with horizontallines, and space is left at the bottom for the sum-total of the sales,so that the salesman, after adding up the various items of eachsales-ticket, places the total amount at the bottom, which total alonethus becomes transferred to the lowest strip a. If only a single item isentered on the topmost strip the salesman will in such case place thatamount at the bottom as before, so that the amount of each sales-ticket.will always alone be transferred to the'lowest strip. As the amount ofthe next sale should appear on this strip directly under the precedingone and close to it, means must be provided to carry forward the loweststrip only such a short distance that the next sumi transferred willappear in the proper place. This is accomplished in the following way:Pivoted to the lug h on the knife-frame L is a a pawl is, which engagesthe teeth of a ratchetwheel Z on the shaft of the lower supplementalroller R, the pawlbeing held in engagement with the ratchet by thespring m. .It will; therefore be obvious that every time the handlever Mis operated to raise the knife K to sever the upper sheets from theirrespective rolls the pawl'k will likewise be raised and consequentlywill turn the feed-rollers P and R a part of a revolution, and thus thestrip a will'be fed forward just far enough to carry the amount ofthelast sale beyond the edge of the short strip of carbon-paper e, and soon till the strip is full.

on a storing-reel journaled in the lower part of the case, where it isstored until the totals are to be footed up or otherwise. It will bemanifest, however, that as the paper strip a" is fed forward the samedistance each time by the rollers P and R and the same is wound on thestoring-reel, which is constantly increasing in diameter as the roll iswound up, the movement of the reel must be differentiated to compensatefor this increased size of the roll. As the circumference of the rollincreases in length more paper will be needed on the reel with a givenamount of revolution thereof than when the roll is small, and if thereel were given a positive fixed movement upon each operation of themachine the paper would tend to wind on the reel faster thandeliveredand'consequently would tear.

This strip, after passing the feed-rollers P and R, is then stored Wehave, therefore, provided means to overcome this difficulty and allowthe receivingroll of paper to slip as the tension increases.

T is the spindle for this roll, one end of which is journaled in the hubn secured to one side of the case 0, while the other end is journaled inthe disk S, which is in turn journaled in the other side of the casing,so that the disk S and spindle T can turn independently of each other. Acurved spring U, secured to the spindle T, bears strongly with its outerend against the inner surface of the disk S, so that there is africtional clutch between the disk and spindle and normally they willrevolve together. 'A ratchet-wheel Vis formed on the outer surface ofthis disk, which is engaged by a rack-bar p, pivoted to a crank-armsecured to the shaft N, operated by the hand-lever M, so that theoperation of the knife cutting mechanism will cause the disk S to rotatea certain definite amount with each stroke, a pawl s preventing any backmovement of the ratchet-wheel or disk. Although the disk S will thus beimpelled a definite amount with each operation of the machine as thepaper is wound on the spindle T, as soon as the size of the rollincreases, so that the tendency would be to tear the-paper, the spring Uand with it the spindle T willslip on the disk S and only the properamountwill be wound on the roll.

It will be understood that while we have illustrated this part of ourinvention in con-v nection with a register in which only two other slipsare used, which are afterward severed from the rolls, our invention isnot to be limited to this particular class of machines;

but that it is equally applicable to the various other forms of'autographic registers.

As we have already set forth, in order to keep'the ruled strips of paperexactly in line and cause them to travel straight through the machinemeans must be provided to adjust the pressure of the feed-rollers and tohold the various strips of paper by mechanical means. In order to obtainthis adjustment and to propel the paper strips evenly, one of therollers, preferably the lower'one, I, is journaled securely in the case,and the upper roller is journaled in sliding boxes or bearings t t,which are arranged to slide vertically in the sides'of the case, asshown in Fig. 6, while set-screws u u are employed, bearing against theupper surface of the boxes, by means of which the pressure ofthe rollersmay be regulated, as desired. In addition to this we provide one of therollers, preferably the lower one, with a series of pointed teeth orpins w, driven in or otherwise secured to the roller near each end. Whenthe rollers are made of wood, metal, or

other hard material cavitiesare made in the upperroller to correspondwith the pins in the lower one to receive the points as the rollers arerevolved, but when rubber rollers are used it is not necessary to makesuch cavities. With these pins it will be manifest that as the rollersare revolved the pins will puncture the strips of paper, hold themexactly in line and cause them to move through the machine uniformly. Inorder to revolve the rollers the shaft of the lower one is provided withthe handle A.

For the purpose of obtaining a proper tension on the dispensing rolls ofpaper we also provide the tension-spring B, one end of which is providedwith an opening f to fit around the spindle of the roll, and the otherend 9 is bent back to form a loop. The outer end of this spring bearsagainst the side of the case, While the other end is in contact with theend of the roll of paper, and

thus a constant tension is kept on the roll. The portion g of the springB is made slightly narrower than the bearing a for the spindle of theroll, and the tension-spring being slipped over the end of the spindle,as shown in Fig. 8, the roll is placed within the case so as to restupon the bearings and bring the spring parallel with the sides thereof,and in this position the portion g of the spring will bear against theside of the case and the other portion against the end of the roll. Wefind this form of tension-spring to give much better results than theordinary tensionrollers in use hitherto.

In order to prevent the accidental touching of the strips of paper asthey issue from the machine through the slot 6, and the consequentbacking up of the strips and the clogging of the machine, we provide ashield or cover 0, which is secured tothe top cover and extends out overthe slot 8, so as to effectually cover the same, but still allow amplespace for the delivery of the strips.

It will, of course, be understood that while the last four parts of ourinvention are illustrated as applied to a particular kind of machine ourinvention in this respect is not to be limited, to this class ofmachines, but is equally applicable to other classes of autographicregisters.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. In an autographic register in which a plurality of strips of paperare employed, the combination with the writing tablet over which thepaper strips are propelled and manifolding material between the upperstrips of paper, with feeding mechanism for said upper strips, of asheet of manifolding material narrower than said tablet, interposedbetween the lower and upper strips of paper and separate feedingmechanism for said lower strip, which when actuated, feeds said strip ashorter distance than the upper strips are fed, substantially as shownand described.

2. In an autographic register in which a plurality of strips of paperare employed, the combination with feeding and cutting mechanism for theupper strips, with manifolding material between said upper strips and awriting tablet over which said strips are propelled, of a narrow sheetof manifolding ma terial interposed between the lower and upper strips,separate feeding mechanism for said lower strip, and means whereby saidfeeding mechanism may be operated simultaneously with the cuttingmechanism for the upper strips to feed said lower strip a shorterdistance than the upper strips, substantially as shown and described.

3. In an autographic register in which a plurality of strips of paperare employed, the combination with feeding mechanism for the upperstrips with manifolding material between said upper strips and cuttingmechanism for severing said strips from the rolls, of a narrow sheet ofmanifolding material interposed between the lower and upper strips,separate feeding mechanism for the lower strip, with storing reel toreceive said strip, and means connecting said real and separate feedingmechanism to the cutting mechanism, whereby the operation of saidcutting mechanism will operate said reel and separate feeding mechanismto feed said lower strip a shorter distance than the upper strips arefed, substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

4. In an autographic register in which three or' more strips of paperare employed, the combination with a writing tablet over which the paperstrips are propelled and manifolding material between the upper stripsof paper, of a sheet of manifolding material narrower than said tablet,interposed between the lower and upper strips of paper, and independentfeeding mechanism for the lower strip, substantially as shown anddescribed.

5. In an autographicregister in which three or more strips of paper areemployed, the combination, with a writing tablet over which the paperstrips are propelled, and manifolding material. between the upper stripsof paper, of a sheet of manifolding material narrower than said tablet,interposed between the lower and upper strips of paper, and feedingmechanism for the lower strip which when actuated feeds said strip ashorter distance than the upper strips are fed, substantially as shownand described.

6. In an autographic register the combination with a case having anopening in its top for the delivery of one or more of the paper strips,feeding mechanism therefor, and cutting mechanism to sever the stripsfrom the roll, of a shield or top piece wider than the opening securedto the top cover and extending out over and beyond said opening toprotect the same and prevent the buckling of said strips under thecutting mechanism, substantially as shown and described.

7. In an autographic register, the combination, with the caseand adispensing roll of paper journaled therein, of a plate shaped to embracethe journal of the roll and bearing against the entire end of the roll,and a spring projection, integral with the plate, curved to have itsbearing against the case at or near rec.

the journal bearing of the roll, substantially as shown and described.

8. In an autographic register in which three or more strips of paper areemployed, the combination, with the writing tablet over which the paperstrips are propelled and manifolding material between the upper stripsof paper, of a sheet of manifolding material narrower than said tabletinterposed between the lower and upper strips of paper, and a storagereel for said lower strip, with means for actuating the same to wind upthe record strip and'feed'same a shorter distance than the upper stripsare fed, substantially as shown and described.

9. In an autographic register in which three or more strips of paper areemployed, the

combination with a wrlting tablet over which the paper strips arepropelled, and manifolding material between the upper strips of paper,the feeding mechanism for said upper strips, of a sheet of manifoldingmaterial narrower than said tablet, interposed between the lower andupper strips of paper, and separate feeding mechanism for said lowerstrip.

10. In an autographic register in which three or more strips of paperare employed, the

v combination with the feeding and. cutting mechanism for the upperstrips, with mani shown and described.

11. In an autographic register in which three or more strips of paperare employed, the combination with feeding andcutting mechanism for theupper strips, with manifolding material between said upper strips, and awriting tablet over which said strips are propelled, of a narrow sheetof manifolding material interposed between the lower and upper strips,separate feeding mechanism for said lower strip, and means whereby saidfeeding mechanism may be operated simultaneously with the cuttingmechanism of the upper strips, substantially as shown and described.

JOHN KIRBY, JR.

WILLIAM E. GRUME. CHARLES D. GRIMES.

JOHN M. CLARK.

Witnesses:

CHARLES J. MCKEE, GEO. M. WEAVER.

